This invention relates to a novel polymetallocarbosilane derived from a polycarbosilane and an organometallic compound, and to a process for its production.
It is known that polycarbosilane, a polymer having a main-chain skeleton composed of --Si--CH.sub.2 -- with two side-chain groups bonded to each silicon atom, is converted to an inorganic carbide SiC on firing, and therefore, SiC fibers having good mechanical and thermal properties can be produced by molding polycarbosilane into fibers and firing the resulting fibers. The present inventors disclosed this technique in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,100,233.
Later, the present inventors disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 160,516 filed June 18, 1980 a crosslinked organometallic copolymer derived from a polycarbosilane whose main-chain skeleton is composed mainly of a structural unit --Si--CH.sub.2 -- and a polymetallosiloxane having a metalloxane unit --M--O-- wherein M represents Ti or Zr and a siloxane unit --Si--O--, and a process for its production. They also disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 160,342 filed June 18, 1980 that composite inorganic carbide fibers having better mechanical properties than SiC fibers can be obtained by molding the aforesaid organometallic copolymer into fibers and firing the fibers.
On further investigation, the present inventors have now discovered a novel polymetallocarbosilane derived from a polycarbosilane whose main-chain skeleton is composed mainly of an --Si--CH.sub.2 -- structural unit and an organometallic compound having an --M--O-- structural unit in which M represents Ti or Zr and a process for its production. They have also found that a molded article mainly containing SiC--MC obtained by firing this polymetallocarbosilane exhibits excellent mechanical properties and oxidation resistance at high temperatures.